Falling for the Brother
by kel483
Summary: Elena's twin sister Eden is fed up with it all. After her parent's deaths everything changed, and not for the better. Then when she meets a certain brother, Eden's life gets even messier.
1. Chapter 1

The night Eden's parents died in that car crash almost a year ago had changed her. The once sweet and innocent girl was not gone - but buried under the facade of sarcasm and ignorance. Unlike her fraternal twin sister Elena, who, although had always been kind and sincere, just seemed to become - well better.

Elena had always been the better twin. She had always been kinder, more forgiving, and genuinely selfless. Whereas to Eden - trying was more of an afterthought. She would always come to the correct conclusion, it just took a little longer.

Waking up in the morning was one of those skills that Eden had never really mastered.

"Eden, get up." Elena said as she shook the bed trying to wake up her night owl of a sister.

"Fine, fine. What time is it?" Eden asked, her voice still heavy from sleep.

"Seven. We need to leave in ten minutes, so I would hurry up." Elena responded as she walked back towards the bathroom in between the two sister's rooms.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Eden muttered to herself. "Didn't my alarm go off?" She asked as she sat up in her bed.

"Well it did, but you threw it across the room." Elena responded while flat ironing her hair. Eden thought her hair was already straight, but Elena still insisted on hogging the bathroom mirror each morning to straighten it.

"Crap." Eden responded. She got out of bed and stepped over the fallen blankets on the floor to retrieve her phone, which sure enough, was on the other side of the room. On the bright side it didn't seem to have any new cracks, but when your phone has as many as hers does, a new crack or two doesn't really seem to matter.

After checking her phone and seeing that it was in fact seven, Eden threw her phone back on her bed and walked over to the bathroom, where Elena was still doing her hair.

"Really Elena. Do you have to straighten it? Your hair is already stick straight." Eden said in a frustrated huff while looking at her bed head in the mirror and throwing some mascara on her eyes.

"Thanks Eden." Elena responded while rolling her eyes.

"Okay, don't give me that look. If I were trying to be mean or sarcastic or something, you would know it." Eden said while glaring at Elena in the mirror, who was now touching up her makeup.

"I have got to get a good mirror in my room." Eden mused while she shook out her slightly past shoulder length hair. It was the same color as Elena's, and it was also pretty straight. But Eden's hair had more volume, so she could get away with the bed head look.

Running her hand though her hair she ran back into her room and threw on the navy blue sweatshirt that she had bought on a family vacation to Colorado a few years back. It was old, but it got the job done. She pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans, put her phone in her back pocket, and ran downstairs. After she turned the corner into the kitchen she was met by Jenna, her aunt.

"Hey Eden. Way to dress up for the first day of school." Jenna sarcastically remarked as Eden walked into the kitchen and grabbed her black Jansport backpack from last year.

"Shut up. Are Elena and Jeremy ever going to come, or are they waiting for an invitation?" Eden responded while grabbing her lanyard off of the counter and throwing it around her neck.

"Elena, Jer! Hurry up!" Eden yelled up the stairs. "I'll be in the car an you both better be in there before I leave!" She grabbed her grey, beat up Converse and headed out the front door yelling,"Bye Jenna!" Then she hopped in her car and started the engine.

Eden had gotten the car as a sixteenth birthday present from her parents. Elena had chosen the giant party route as her gift. In Eden's opinion, it was a stupid choice. But whatever, she got the car, that's all that mattered.

Just before Eden honked the horn, Jeremy and Elena hopped into the back of her car.

"Why do we have to sit in the back and your bag gets to sit in the front?" Jeremy asked.

"Because unlike you, this bag spends it's spare time doing things other than pot." Eden responded.

"Do not." Jeremy shot back. Eden could tell that she had gotten to him.

"Jeremy! You said you were sober! Were you lying?" Elena asked, clearly unaware of her brother's continuous drug usage.

"No Elena, Jeremy's sober. His pupils are just blown, he reeks of pot, and he's been acting high as a kite for the past week for no good reason." Eden responded sarcastically. She loved her sister, but her tendencies to see the good in people sometimes gives her a sort of tunnel vision.

"Just shut up okay! I'm working on it." Jeremy muttered.

"Whatever," Eden responded, too tired to get into it. Elena was gazing out the window, thinking about who knows what, and Jeremy was playing some game on his phone, so Eden turned on the radio and drove to the high school.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Like I said in the summary comment or like this or something if you want me to continue. Also, I don't own any of this, just Eden.**


	2. Chapter 2

The second Eden pulled into the high school's parking lot, she saw Elena's friends Bonnie and Caroline run towards the car. Snapping out of her trace, Elena opened the car door and went outside to greet her friends.

"Jeremy, grab your stuff and get out of the car. I need to run to over to the Grill before class to grab my paycheck." Eden said as she looked at Jeremy through the rear view mirror.

"Why can't you pick it up later?" Jeremy asked while grabbing his stuff to leave the car.

"Because my boss won't be there this afternoon and I don't trust Vicki give it to me." Eden responded while staring off into the distance, waiting for Jeremy to get out of the car. She became a waitress at the Grill right after her parents died. Although Eden didn't really need the money, she liked having the job. It was a good reason to get out of the house and the depressed atmosphere that it gave off for those first few months.

It's not like Eden didn't grieve over her parent's deaths, she just couldn't stay in the house that held so many memories of her past. Sometimes she wondered if she had pushed her grief too far down, and that one day it might come back up. But she stopped caring. All she had to do was get out of high school, then she could leave.

"Whatever." Jeremy huffed as he got out of the car.

After Jeremy left, Eden pulled out of the parking lot and drove over to the Grill. Then she parked and entered the restaurant.

Not surprisingly, the Grill was almost empty for being seven in the morning on a Monday. Eden wasn't even sure why the Grill was open this early. Her boss, Leslie, had insisted that it was a great business move. Apparently the Grill had great potential as a coffee shop. Whatever, it was Leslie's mornings to waste, not her's.

She walked up to the bar where a lone customer was sitting with a glass of whiskey.

"Really? It's not even eight in the morning." Eden said to the man. He wasn't looking at her, but from what she could tell, he wasn't that bad looking. He had dark brown hair and a beat up leather jacket on.

"Like you're one to talk. You're here right?" The man responded in a calm, deep voice.

"Excuse me but I am not here to drown away my sorrows as some people here are. I'm picking up my paycheck so I can get out of here and not have to deal with people like you my whole life." Eden shot back, annoyed by the man's arrogance.

"Feisty, aren't we." The man replied in the same smooth voice as he turned over and looked in Eden's direction. Eden realized that she definitely wasn't wrong about her assumption, the man was very good looking. He had bright blue eyes and the sharpest jawline that she had ever seen.

"Shut up." Eden shot back. She was caught off guard for a second, but tried to make it look like she wasn't staring by looking towards the kitchen, and glancing in his direction when she was sure he wasn't looking.

"Anyways, have you seen Leslie?" Eden asked looking back over at the stranger.

"She just left. Something about catching a flight." He trailed off while taking a sip of whiskey.

"Want some?" The man asked, holding the glass in her direction.

"What? Just, no thanks. She just left you here?" Eden replied, shocked at her boss's carelessness.

"Well, lets just say that I have a way with words." The man said with a glint in his eye. "Anyways, I'm Damon. And you are?"

"Eden, but I have to go. I have somewhere to be." She replied while grabbing her bag.

"Wait, you're sure you can't stay just a little bit longer?" Damon asked.

"No, I'm sorry. I can't. See you around?" Eden responded as she turned to leave.

"Will do." He replied flatly as Eden left the restaurant.

Once Eden got outside she climbed into her car and started looking for her keys, but they weren't in her bag.

"Shit, I'm going to be late," she muttered to herself while searching through her car.

"Looking for these?" Eden jumped in her seat as she looked towards the window where Damon was with her lanyard.

"Damon! You scared the hell out of me!" Eden yelled.

"Sorry sweetheart." He said with a smirk. "You left these at the bar, and I guessed you might need them."

"Thanks," Eden replied while trying to grab her keys from Damon.

"Ah, wait. Before you leave I've got a question for you. What are your plans for say... later on this afternoon? I have a nasty confrontation planned with my brother at, well, say eightish, but I'm free otherwise." Damon asked with a strange glint in his eye.

Eden ran her hand through her hair, which had the annoying tendency to fall in her face all of the time. She was going to say something to him. Something about age? Or maybe having a party to go to tonight. Eden couldn't seem to remember. But for some reason, other than his obvious attractiveness, she felt compelled agree with him.

"Sure, I'm free. What do you want to do?" Eden responded.

"Lovely," Damon replied with what Eden could tell to be his signature smirk. "How about you swing by my place at say... eight thirty? I should be free by then."

"Okay, cool. But where do you live?" Eden asked.

"I'll text you the address later, okay?" Damon replied as he turned to leave.

"But you don't have my phone number." Eden responded as she started to look for her phone.

"Oh, but you left that inside too." Damon said as he turned around to toss the phone in her car. Then he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked over to his car.

As Eden started the car and began to drive away she started thinking about her encounter. She was fairly certain that she had left her phone and lanyard in her bag the whole time. _Whatever_ , she shrugged it off and drove to the high school.

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading! Just an fyi... I think I'm still going to have Kathrine exist in this story, but I don't think that I'll have Damon be as obsessed with her as he was.**


	3. Chapter 3

Even though it didn't take long to drive back over to the high school, it took forever to find a parking space.

"Crap," Eden muttered. It was 7:33 and the late bell had rung three minutes ago.

After finding what seemed to be the only empty space in the lot, Eden grabbed her stuff and ran to her first block. She knew that she could of gotten away with being late to any other class, but it was Mr. Tanner's history class, which was also known as hell on earth.

Every year Eden somehow seemed to get stuck in his class, and Elena usually ended up there with her. By the time she got to his classroom though, the door was closed. _Great_ , Eden thought to herself as she knocked on the door. The whole class seemed to turn and look in her direction through the window on the door. She caught eyes with Elena, who shot her a disapproving look.

After what seemed like forever, Mr. Tanner finally opened the door to let Eden in.

"Hello Eden. I must say that I'm surprised, I at least thought that you would make it on time to class the first day." Mr. Tanner said as he opened the door to let her in as he continued, "There's a few seats in the back that are empty, go ahead and sit there."

"Thanks," Eden responded quietly, not looking her teacher in the eye as she walked into the classroom.

Before Eden even sat down, Mr. Tanner jumped right back into full on lecture mode. Instead of listening though, Eden found something more interesting to pay attention too - her sister and this man that she had never seen before. He was definitely hot, she had figured that much out on her walk to her desk. Another thing that she had noticed was him staring at Elena. Her twin kept looking back at him, trying to keep her glances at least a bit less obvious. She glanced over to see Elena's ex, Matt, giving the mystery man the stink eye. He still wasn't over her.

Surprisingly, the block was over before Eden knew it. She guessed that it had to do something with the fact that she was late, and also whatever was happening with Elena. Once Eden got to biology, she pulled out her phone and proceeded to text Elena about what had happened.

 _"what was happening in history?"_ Eden texted, trying to keep her phone hidden from the teacher.

 _"idk, he's really hot though right?"_ Elena responded after what seemed like forever, but was really five minutes.

 _"can we talk at lunch?"_ Eden replied, while getting a look from the teacher, who evidently noticed her texting.

Before she could put her phone away, it buzzed with a reply from Elena, _"sure, but bonnie and caroline will be there so try to be civil."_

 _"k"_ Eden quickly responded before the teacher noticed it.

Too tired to listen, Eden tuned the teacher out and began to think about her ex-friends, or frienemies, as some would call it. Bonnie, Caroline, Elena, and Eden all used to be good friends before the accident. Eden was always a little different than her three friends though. One thing was that Eden never really partied. Sure she went to them, but Eden honestly hated them. Why, she didn't know. She just simply didn't like them. Another difference was that Eden was never as popular as the three of them. She was always just more quiet and reserved, and therefor she never really stood out like they did. But after the accident was when the differences really shown. Eden just kind of shut people out. She wouldn't answer her phone for days, work as often as she could, and got out of most social events that people tried to drag her into. Eden supposed that it really was her fault that they weren't friends anymore, it's not like she could blame them for stopping trying with her. But Eden could partially blame them for the reasons that Bonnie and Caroline ignored her.

On the days that Eden did end up going to school, she would usually end up sitting next to Elena at lunch. Since Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline were still friends, Eden would usually end up sitting with them too. Caroline then started making what she seemed to think were subtle digs at Eden. And with Eden being Eden, she would shoot them right back at Caroline. For instance, one day the three of them (Elena had the stomach flu) saw this freshman named Katie as she came into the cafeteria. Katie's mom had just died of cancer, so her dad moved them back to Mystic Falls to be with relatives. Katie, who was understandably a mess at the beginning of the year, had turned herself around completely. She was probably one of the most popular freshmen. Bonnie had said something about how well Katie was doing in cheer, to which Caroline added while glaring in my direction, "Yeah, at least Katie tried to move on. After that comment, I was pretty pissed. So I shot back, "Yeah, maybe you should ask her how she does it, it would help you get over Matt," who Elena still hadn't broken up with. Caroline and Bonnie were shocked by my comment. "Wait, you like Matt?" Bonnie asked Caroline, which Caroline ignored. "Why... How do you know?" Caroline stuttered, reeling from my accusation. "Well Caroline, when you spend all of your time being a 'boring loner' as you so kindly put it the other day, you tend to become a much better listener. Now that I think about it, maybe you should try it. Maybe you could also learn how to come up with a good insult, which FYI, isn't making fun of someone and their dead parents."

Those ended up being the last words that Caroline and Eden had spoken to each other - they hadn't talked since. At first Bonnie tried to be the peacemaker, but since Caroline refused to talk to Eden, that made things difficult. Ultimately, Bonnie ended up siding with Caroline, which was understandable, but still hurt. Elena had more trouble with the fighting. She still stood with Caroline, but she didn't straight up ignore Eden either.

Eden wasn't even sure that Elena knew what the fight was about. But she didn't think Elena even wanted to know. Ignorance is bliss as the saying goes.

After second block had finished, Eden headed over to lunch - eager to learn about Elena's mystery man. She saw Bonnie and Caroline sitting at a table on the far wall of the cafeteria. Biting her lip, she walked over to the table, knowing that Elena would join them soon, but not looking forward to sitting alone with Bonnie and Caroline - even if it was just for a few minutes.

"What are you doing here Eden? I though you sat with the stoners." Caroline greeted with a malicious look in her eye. After Eden and Caroline's big fight, Eden started to sit with the stoners, but she hated it. People who were high could be really annoying.

Deciding to take the high road, Eden responded, "Caroline, I'm not here to fight. I just wanted to talk to Elena." Caroline rolled her eyes at that statement. Bonnie looked incredibly uncomfortable with the current situation, and Eden immediately felt bad. She really missed her two friends. Eden had always been friends with Bonnie, and Caroline, well she was always good friends with Caroline too. Eden wished that she could apologize, but she honestly didn't know what to apologize for. Its not like she was going to apologize for yelling at Caroline for insulting Eden's family, or at least not apologize first.

"Whatever," Caroline replied, who then turned back to her lunch due to the awkward silence that ensued.

Before it could get any worse, Elena finally walked up, with none other than the guy she was talking to in history.

"Hey Elena," Bonnie cheerfully greeted and turned to the stranger. "So whats your name?"

"He's Stefan. Stefan, this is Bonnie, Caroline, and Eden, my sister, gesturing to each of us as she went.

"Sheesh Elena, you could at least let him talk," Eden jokingly commented.

"Sorry," Elena sheepishly responded as Stefan smiled at her.

"It's alright. I'm Stefan, as Elena said before," Stefan said with that same smile.

Elena and Stefan then sat down at the table, and they proceeded to introduce themselves. Somewhere along the line, Eden tuned out of the conversation. She didn't know how much she missed, but was brought back to the conversation after Bonnie kept calling her name.

"Eden, are you going or not?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm sorry, I must of tuned out or something. What were you asking?" Eden asked, confused about what was happening.

"She was making sure that you were going to the bonfire tonight. You're still going right?" Elena responded.

"Oh, the bonfire. Shit, I forgot about that. I made plans, sorry." Eden replied, trying to skip around the fact that she was going over to Damon's house. She knew that Elena wouldn't like it, but for some reason Eden felt that she should go anyways.

"Ooh, what plans? Bonnie asked. _Crap,_ Eden thought. _This isn't going to go over well._

"Umm, well I was planning on visiting this guy I met at the Grill this morning. Eden responded, not wanting to look over at Elena, knowing that she wasn't going to like what she said next.

"So what are you going to do?" Elena asked, at the same time that Bonnie asked if he was cute.

"Yes Bonnie, he was very cute. I was going to go over and hang out at his place." Eden replied as Elena made a face.

"Is that really safe Eden?" Elena asked.

"I'll be fine, quit worrying." Eden said.

Bonnie, who was obviously trying to keep the peace, added, "So whats his name?"

"Damon." Eden responded. After she said that Stefan immediately went stiff.

"Wait, you said Damon, right?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, his name was Damon. Bright blue eyes, dark brown hair. Do you know him?" Eden replied, confused by Stefan's response.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Stefan quickly responded, obviously shaken by something as he bolted out of the cafeteria.

"That was weird," Caroline added, and once again returned to her lunch.

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading! Sorry I took so long to update, I tried to make the chapter longer this time. If you can't already tell I'm not aligning the story up with the show** **completely, but most of it should somewhat line up with the show. Thanks for all of the likes, follows, and reviews... and please continue! Also, if you have any questions or ideas, feel free to leave them in the comments or message me. Thanks again!**


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the school day was fairly uneventful for Eden, seeing as Eden didn't have any other classes with Elena, so she couldn't pester her about visiting Damon. So when the final bell rang, Eden was relieved to be done with the day, but not really sure what she was going to do with Elena on the drive home.

As she walked out of her class and into the crowded hallway, Eden was suddenly swept into a janitors closet, at a speed so fast that it made her dizzy.

"What just..." Eden weakly began, while cradling her head in her hands. Before she could finish she looked up and saw Stefan.

"What just happened?" Eden reiterated, looking Stefan in the eye. "I thought you left or something. And how did I end up in here. And why?" Eden continued, in a much more confused tone.

"Nothing, just drink this," Stefan said while handing Eden a water bottle that was filled only a quarter of the way. Even though she could barely see in the poorly lit closet, Eden could tell the water was strangely murky.

"Umm, something's up with that water, and I am in no mood to be drugged today, so I think not." Eden replied, she was kind of freaked out by how weird Stefan was acting. "In fact, I think I'm just going to go now..." Eden trailed off as she turned to leave the closet that reeked of cleaning supplies and mildew.

"Wait, hold on," Stefan responded while stepping in front of the confused looking girl.

"I really didn't want to have to do this," Eden though she heard him mutter. Before she could ask what he meant, Stefan looked her in the eyes and said, "You will drink this water, then you will forget this conversation."

As he said that Eden felt that same sensation that she had felt earlier with Damon. "Umm, sure okay." Eden replied as she drank the murky water. While she was drinking she noticed someone leaving the room she was in. Eden was suddenly confused. _Wait, how did I get here. And who is that?_ But before she could ask those questions, they disappeared from her mind. So Eden just continued to drink the water, and left the closet.

As Eden was walking to her car she felt her phone buzz from her back pocket. When she pulled it out to check it, she realized that it was and unknown number, and by the text that came with it, Eden realized that it was Damon.

 _"hey sunshine, plans changed and im now free all evening. come over whenever,"_ the text read.

 _"really, sunshine? sure. i'll head over around fiveish. i still dont know where you live though."_ Eden responded, still walking towards her car, where she saw Elena and Jeremy waiting.

Once she got to the car, Eden unlocked it and jumped in while throwing her stuff on the passenger seat. As she started the car she saw Jeremy hop in the back seat with his earbuds in, and Elena throw Eden's stuff in the back and sit down.

Knowing what was coming, Eden didn't say anything and backed out of her spot, trying to to hit the people running back and forth.

"What were you thinking Eden! Come on, at least act like your trying. Your supposed to be the realist, the twin that doesn't do stupid stuff like that. I'm the one with my head in the clouds, but it's like everything has changed. Use your head!" Elena shouted, clearly upset by her twins actions. "Why are you even doing this?" Elena asked in a much calmer tone.

"I don't know Elena, okay! I just, I don't know anymore." Eden replied, tired and confused. All she knew was that she had to go see Damon at five, that was it.

The rest of the ride home was silent and filled with tension. The second Eden pulled into the driveway, Elena grabbed her bag and stormed out of the car. Jeremy, who was oblivious to the fight, also jumped out of the car. But he at least waited for the car to stop. Then Eden parked in front of the clutter filled garage, grabbed her bag, and headed into the house.

The second that Eden entered the front door, she noticed Elena running down the wooden stairs. Before she got to the bottom, Elena put her hand on the railing and asked, "Can I borrow your car?"

"For what?" Eden responded, but she already knew the answer. Elena had been going to the cemetery every day since their parent's deaths. Eden went with her the first few times, but after awhile it just became too much and Eden got the job at the Grill instead.

"You know where," Elena muttered. "Just please?"

"Yeah sure, whatever. Just be back before five." Eden flatly responded as she began to climb up the stairs.

"Where do you need to be?" Elena asked while turning to look up at Eden, who had almost reached the top.

"You know where," Eden replied with a smirk as she turned around to look at her sister who had a scowl on her face.

Before Eden could finish her ascent, Elena added, "Hey, I'm going to need the keys."

"Oh yeah," Eden replied while taking the lanyard that housed her keys and tossed it down to her sister, who promptly caught them and headed out the door. Then Eden turned back around and walked over to her room, where she threw her bag on her bed and collapsed next to it. As she got up to lean on her elbows so she could go on her phone, it buzzed with another message from Damon.

 _"i live at the old boarding house, i'm sure you know where it is. and sunshine is just a reflection of your bright and bubbly personality."_ The text read. Eden could almost hear the sarcasm though the text.

 _"okay sobriety coach, i'll be there at around 5."_ Eden responded as she glanced at her phone's battery, which was almost at 20%.

 _Crap._ She thought as she got up from her bed and plugged her phone in next to her cluttered desk. _I should really just clean this place before I leave, because knowing me I will never get to it otherwise._ Eden decided as she started to clean her room.

...

About thirty minutes later, Eden had finished cleaning and glanced at her clock, which read 4:34. Instead of waiting around for Elena to return, Eden grabbed her laptop and pulled up Netflix and watched Arrested Development. She was re-watching it for what felt like the millionth time. Around an episode later, Eden heard the front door open. Knowing it had to be Elena because Jeremy was in his room and Jenna had work, Eden shut down her computer and grabbed her phone; then she went downstairs. When she got there Eden was met by a shaken-up looking Elena who had Eden's lanyard in her hand.

"Are you okay?" A concerned Eden asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just saw something weird." Elena responded as she started up the stairs after handing the keys to Eden.

"Okay then." Eden replied, wanting to ask her what she saw but at the same time also knowing better than to press on the subject. The sisters just didn't have the same bond that they used too. So instead Eden headed out of the door and got in her car. As she was driving over to the old boarding house, Eden saw this crow that seemed to be following her.

"Stupid bird," Eden said to herself as she pulled into the mansion's driveway. She turned off the engine and pulled down the visor, where she fixed her hair in the mirror.

 _You've got this, just have fun and don't be stupid._ Elena thought as she got out of the car and headed towards the front door.

* * *

 **Hey, thanks for reading! I hope you liked the chapter, and sorry that it took so long to get out, I've been really busy. Thanks for all of the favorites and follows too! Also... if you haven't already noticed, I'm trying to not totally follow the story line of the show, just so it's not the same as some of the other stories and just for my sanity. I couldn't follow the whole plot line or I'd go crazy. By the way, I don't know if any of you picked up on it but please don't think that I made a plot hole or whatever in the story, the reason Stefan didn't compel Eden to forget about Damon was because, like in the show, he is weaker from the animal blood and knew he couldn't erase Damon's compulsion on her. Once again, thanks. Please comment also! I love hearing thoughts on how the story is doing or how you think that it should go. Thanks again!**


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